Riccardo Tisci Talks Monograms and the Importance of “Humanizing” the Burberry Label
Thomas Burberry Monogram collection
By now you’ve seen the ads. Gigi Hadid playing a woman, a man, a girl, and a boy in the Thomas Burberry monogram print that the label’s chief creative officer, Riccardo Tisci, designed with art director legend Peter Saville.
Tisci’s Burberry is inclusive and vast, as Vogue’s Sarah Mower pointed out in her review of his Resort 2020 collection, posted yesterday. But just as important as the work Tisci is doing to open up the label—to make it inclusive and universal—are his efforts to put a face to the name. Burberry, unlike many of its luxury-goods counterparts in Paris and Milan, hasn’t made too much of its founder. Before Tisci’s arrival, even fashion die-hards might have been hard-pressed to identify the original Mr. Burberry’s first name. Tisci dove into the house archives when he landed last year and decided straightaway that Thomas is a man the brand’s fans should get to know.
It was a clever move launching a monogram print—and not just because of our unflagging interest in logos. To borrow a line from Game of Thrones (because that’s what everyone’s doing this week), “There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story.” Tisci’s starting a new chapter at the brand, and by championing Thomas Burberry, he’s given himself a story to tell.
“In the archives, I saw the old drawings and graphics of Thomas Burberry’s time,” Tisci said. “He did his initials, and I thought, That’s interesting. Why not develop something that represents the beginning of this new era?” Saville liked the idea, too. He “cleaned up” the original monogram, taking off some of the corners that gave the 1835 prototype a Gothic feel.
When the monogram first began appearing in wild postings last summer, some Tisci fans thought the T—which is sans serif where the B boasts serif flourishes—represented his own initial, but he insists it’s only a happy coincidence. “When I arrived I found the story of Thomas Burberry very attractive,” Tisci explained. “That it’s not only a trench and a check. That there was a human behind them. With time, I want to open more the archive and show the history because the history of Thomas Burberry is quite interesting. He was quite daring, he took risks. Where we’re going with modernity, with the computerized life we live, and our obsessions with computers and phones, humanizing the house is very important to me.”
In other words, you can expect more TB monograms from Riccardo Tisci.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
